Charge pumps are known in the art of semiconductor chip circuitry. Typical applications include boosting and/or attenuating a given input voltage level. Unfortunately, charge pumps generally produce "noisy" output signals and thus, regulator circuits are often employed to filter the noisy output and to accurately set the final output voltage level.
The power consumption of a charge pump system can be controlled by an on/off circuit which activates the pump until the desired final level is achieved, at which point, the circuit disables the pump to save power. As dynamic conditions alter the desired final level, the control circuit activates the charge pump to re-establish this level. Under a given loading condition, the control circuit generates a charge-pump duty-cycle rate to establish a steady-state operation that maintains the desired level.
The on/off circuit can be tuned to offer a variety of voltage levels. When the main charge pump is off, during the "standby" phase, a relatively small, low power pump is often used to maintain the standby voltage level.